MEET OUR
Senior Leadership Team
Dr. Ronald Newbold has over 27 years of Business Development and Alliance Management experience leading business teams in negotiating over $1.5 billion in announced pharma / biotech deals. Prior to joining EDI, Ron served as Senior Vice President and Head of US Business Development & Alliance Management, Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Princeton NJ.
Ron acquired significant experience in external partnering in the Life Sciences field from his previous activities in large Pharma as well as biotech companies. Ron is a PhD graduate of the University of Rochester. After completing his postdoctoral fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry at Harvard University, Ron joined Merck where he was ultimately responsible for Strategic Research Initiatives. Following 14 years with Merck, Ron was the senior business development executive at Sentigen Biosciences, Celldex Therapeutics and Auspex Pharmaceuticals.
Ron joined Pfizer in 2010 to manage a global team of scientists in over 10 countries evaluating and proposing partnerships of scientific value to broadened Pfizer’s early-stage pipeline. Ron was also responsible for starting and leading the Pfizer Seed Fund, created through an evolution of Pfizer’s Incubator. During Ron’s tenure with Pfizer, he served as Board Observer to several companies, as a member of Neomed Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board and he remains Vice Chairman of the Licensing and Ventures Group at the University of Virginia.
Ron Newbold, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Adam Tulgan joined the Empire Discovery Institute in August 2018 after spending the last 5 years at the University of Rochester in a variety of business development roles within the Medical Center and the School of Arts, Sciences & Engineering. Adam is a strong relationship builder with a history of connecting the right people with the right expertise to deliver on specific goals. He has a proven track record of establishing industry-academic collaborations between faculty, students and industry partners.
Adam is a successful academic and industry health care professional with nearly twenty years of experience in building strategic partnerships and alliances within the pharmaceutical, information technology, medical device, and academic research sectors. Adam worked for Stryker Neurovascular as a Neurovascular Regional Territory Manager in NYC managing a $3.3M territory selling hemorrhagic and acute stroke revascularization products to interventional neuro-radiologists and neuro surgeons in the Interventional Neuroradiology Suite. Prior to Stryker, he worked as a Senior Surgical Device Specialist at Covidien AutoSuture (now Medtronic) in NJ/NYC managing a $5.6M territory selling mechanical, ultrasonic, and bipolar cutting/ligation devices and surgical access devices to general, bariatric, cardiothoracic, OB/GYN, and Urology surgeons in the Operating Room. Past sales experience also include Oracle, Pfizer and a software start-up company called Thor Technologies (later acquired by Oracle).
Adam earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in Latin American Studies and Economics, Walsh School of Foreign Service and his B.A. from Rutgers University in Political Science with a minor in Spanish.
Adam Tulgan, MA
Chief Operating Officer
Molly Mesko brings 16 years of business development, marketing, and academic project management expertise to Empire Discovery Institute. Molly joined EDI following eight years of working for Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. As Executive Director of Recruitment and Part-Time Programs, she successfully managed the part-time graduate degree programs including the International Executive MBA offered as a dual degree with the University of Bern. Molly launched Simon’s first online Master’s degree program and led the school’s recruitment initiatives. Prior, Molly held various business development and marketing roles at First American Equipment Finance, a national technology finance firm. At First American Equipment Finance, she established the company’s marketing department and was later promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the Professional Services Division, the company’s largest revenue-producing division at that time.
Throughout Molly’s career, she has been recognized for developing lasting partnerships with companies, individual clients, faculty, and students. Molly’s success in business development and program management can be attributed to the strong relationships she has built with her teams. Molly was a recipient of the Rochester Business Journal “Forty Under 40” award for her leadership, volunteerism and commitment to the Rochester community,.
Molly earned her MBA from Simon Business School and has a B.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Kentucky.
Molly Mesko
Director of Portfolio Development & Alliance Management
Joshua E. Gewolb JD is legal counsel for Empire Discovery Institute and is a partner at Harter, Secrest & Emory, Rochester NY. Josh began his career as a traditional federal tax lawyer. Starting at Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and continuing at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, he provides advice to clients from small local enterprises to large publicly traded corporations about a full range of tax matters. He combines the intellectual background associated with a large traditional tax practice and the practical problem-solving approach required for smaller entities. Josh also looks at tax through the lens of state tax planning and has experience guiding clients through the unique issues presented in this area. He helps clients resolve audits/controversies as quickly and efficiently as possible, and this experience informs his transactional practice.
Josh counsels organizations ranging from small start-up enterprises to large national foundations on complex tax and not-for-profit law issues. His experience at the intersection of tax and not-for-profit law enables him to provide counsel on the unique issues presented by mergers and acquisitions involving not-for-profit organizations. Josh has a special expertise in the area of private foundations and serves a number of corporate and family foundations nationwide. He develops close relationships with his not-for-profit clients and many think of him as not just a lawyer but as a full member of the team helping to enhance their mission.
Josh’s comments on tax reform have been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Tax Daily Tax Report. He authors a column on tax matters, a blog on exempt organizations, and participates frequently in bar association reports. He is deeply engaged in current events in tax and non-profit law and has presented at the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and at numerous local events.
Joshua E. Gewolb, JD
Legal Counsel
